The Senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, has stated that he has never acted as an intermediary between kidnappers and the government or private individuals.

Speaking during an interview on ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, the Senator also stated that he has never participated in ransom negotiations.

Ndume made the clarification after the President of the Borno South Youth Alliance, Samaila Kaigama, accused him of involvement in the handling of an alleged ransom linked to the release of abducted residents of Ngoshe, Borno State.

The senator, however, revealed that he once notified security agencies after Kaigama contacted him over a video purportedly released by Boko Haram/ISWAP demanding a N5bn ransom following the abduction of hundreds of residents.

“I have never, directly or indirectly, acted as an intermediary between kidnappers and any government or private individuals. Not at all,” Ndume said.

He said Kaigama reached out to him following the alleged abduction of 416 residents of Ngoshe by insurgents, who later released a video demanding ransom.

“On Eid-el-Kabir, Boko Haram invaded Ngoshe village in my local government and abducted 416 citizens… He contacted me to say that Boko Haram/ISWAP have issued an ultimatum of 72 hours to pay a ransom of N5 billion.

“When I saw the video, I asked him, ‘Have you contacted the security agencies?’ I immediately reached out to the NSA, DSS and other relevant security agencies, including the military, and shared his contact with them,” he said.

Ndume stated that he intentionally avoided discussing ransom payments and only associated Kaigama with security agencies.

“He wanted to use me or to come through me for the payment of ransom. I told him I don’t want to be involved… The best I could do was to connect him with the appropriate authorities,” he said.

The senator reaffirmed his consistent stance against negotiating with terrorists or paying ransom.

“My position on ransom payment ab initio, or even negotiating with Boko Haram, is clear: I don’t support it, I’m not supporting it, and I will never support negotiating with Boko Haram, talk less of paying them ransom,” he said.